Baran was of the Heel Iceblood clan. His father was Cull Heel and his mother was Yullveig. He had an older half-sister called Erta. Baran strongly disagreed with his father over how to treat outlanders in their territory. Especially after they burned their Greathall and killed their people. He preferred the old ways of hunting and killing them while his father usually found reasons to just warn them away. Baran considered his father "touched" and said people's respect for Cull would not save Cull's life. He was a giant man, with a thick head of russet hair, a beard, and large teeth.